1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a glove box device, and particularly to an improvement of a glove box device including a cylinder lock for switching over a locked state and an unlocked state of a lid.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-76449 discloses a glove box device wherein an operating handle capable of turning in a horizontal direction is supported on a base member mounted to a lid covering an opening of a box body, and a transmission mechanism is operated by locking and unlocking operations of a cylinder lock mounted on a stationary portion separate from the operating handle, whereby transmission and cutting-off of the transmission of an operational force of the operating handle are switched over in response to the operated state of the transmission mechanism.
However, in the glove box device disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-76449, the transmission mechanism comprises a large number of components and also the structure is complicated, resulting in that the cost is liable to increase. Further, the operation is delayed in transmitting the operational force of the operating handle due to the large number of components, whereby an operational load is quickly built up. Thus, it cannot be said that the operational feeling is excellent.
In addition, because the cylinder lock is mounted on the stationary portion separate from the operating handle, if a tip end of the cylinder lock is arranged to face a design face of the operating handle in its closing position, a misalignment is liable to be generated between the design face of the operating handle and the tip end of the cylinder lock. Moreover, because it is required to provide a large opening in the design face in order to avoid the interference during operation of the operating handle, a gap is liable to be conspicuous. Therefore, in the conventional device, it is necessary to contrive a measure for improving the dimensional accuracy of each part so that the gap is inconspicuous to the utmost.